History Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a Roman Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity. In 1979 she was awarded the most prestigious prize in the world, the Nobel Peace Prize, for her humanitarian work. Her labor made her so worthy that, in reality, she gave honor to the prize, rather than the other way around! Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 to Albanian parents in Skopje, which at the time was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. (The city is now the capital of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.) When she was 18, she entered the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland. She trained in Dublin and in Darjeeling, India, before taking her religious vows in 1937. She took the name Teresa from Saint Teresa of Lisieux, the patron saint of foreign missionaries. In September 1946, while riding in a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling to engage in 8 days of spiritual exercises, she received a divine calling from God "to serve Him amongst the poorest of the poor".

She served as principal of a Roman Catholic high school in Calcutta, and was moved by the presence of the sick and dying on the city's streets. In 1948 she was granted permission to leave her post at the convent and begin a ministry among the sick. That same year she became an Indian citizen. In 1950 Mother Teresa and her associates were approved within the archdiocese of Calcutta as the Missionaries of Charity. The order was later recognized as a pontifical congregation under the jurisdiction of Rome. Members of the congregation take four vows on acceptance by the religious community. In addition to the three basic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, a fourth vow is required pledging service to the poor, whom Mother Teresa described as the embodiment of Christ. In 1952 Mother Teresa opened the Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) Home for Dying Destitutes in Calcutta. She and her fellow nuns took in dying Indians off the streets of Calcutta and brought them to this home to care for them during the days before they died, so that they might be able to die in peace and with dignity.

In serving the people abandoned by society, Mother Teresa put love into action. Her spirit of giving inspired many to follow her, and her work eventually expanded to many other parts of the world. Today over 5000 sisters, brothers, and volunteers run approximately 500 centers worldwide, feeding 500,000 families and helping 90,000 lepers every year. In recognition of her efforts, Mother Teresa was bestowed many awards, including the Padma Shri award for distinguished service in 1962, The Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Mother Teresa accepted all awards on behalf of the poor, using any money that accompanied them to fund her centers. Mother Teresa was forced to scale back her activities in 1990 because of declining health. On March 13 1997, she stepped down as head of the order and Sister Nirmala was chosen to succeed her as leader of the Missionaries of Charity.

On September 5, 1997, at the age of 87, the best loved woman of the century passed away. Her funeral service was on September 13, 1997, the 51st anniversary of her receiving her divine mission from God. Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997) Mother Teresa is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize | World History Project Dec 10 1979 Mother Teresa is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), born Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (pronounced [aɡˈnɛs ˈɡɔndʒe bɔjaˈdʒiu]), was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.

By the 1970s she was internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a documentary, and book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to expand, and at the time of her death it was operating 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programs, orphanages, and schools. She has been praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she has also faced a diverse range of criticism. These include objections by various individuals and groups, including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Parenti, Aroup Chatterjee, Vishva Hindu Parishad, against the proselytizing focus of her work including a strong stance against abortion, a belief in the spiritual goodness of poverty and alleged baptisms of the dying.

Medical journals also criticised the standard of medical care in her hospices and concerns were raised about the opaque nature in which donated money was spent. In 1996 Mother Teresa was proclaimed directly by Act of Congress an Honorary Citizen of the United States. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. October 17th - 1979. Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Photos and Images | Getty Images October 17th - 1979. Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize July 07, 1981 License Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) (1910 - 1997). Nobel Peace Prize...Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) (1910 - 1997). Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1979 and founder of the order, Missionaries of Charity. She is addressing an audience at St James' Church, Piccadilly, London in a prayer for peace in Northern Ireland.

LessMore Mother Teresa - Biographical Mother Teresa The Nobel Peace Prize 1979 Mother Teresa Questions and Answers on Mother Teresa Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje * , Macedonia, on August 26 ** , 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work. On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI. Today the order comprises Active and Contemplative branches of Sisters and Brothers in many countries. In 1963 both the Contemplative branch of the Sisters and the Active branch of the Brothers was founded. In 1979 the Contemplative branch of the Brothers was added, and in 1984 the Priest branch was established. The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers. The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families. Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.

From Nobel Lectures , Peace 1971-1980, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1997 This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel . It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures . To cite this document, always state the source as shown above. * Former Uskup, a town in the Ottoman Empire. ** Mother Teresa's date of birth is disputed: "So unconcerned was she about accuracy in relation to the chronicling of her own life, and so disinclined actually to read anything written about her, that for many years and in a succession of books her birthdate was erroneously recorded as 27 August 1910. It even appeared in the Indian Loreto Entrance Book as her date of birth. In fact, as she confided to her friend, co-worker and American author, Eileen Egan, that was the date on which she was christened Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.

The date which marked the beginning of her Christian life was undoubtedly the more important to Mother Teresa, but she was none the less actually born in Skopje, Serbia, on the previous day." (Spink, Kathryn: Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography, HarperSanFrancisco, 1997. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.

Table of Contents: Further Readings Mother Teresa of Calcutta, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for years of dedicated work with lepers and the poor, hungry, and destitute Principal Personages Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa (1910- ), the Mother Superior of the Missionaries of Charity Lazar Bojaxhiu (1908- ), the only surviving sibling of Mother Teresa, at her side in Oslo for the Nobel ceremony John Sanness, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee who awarded the prize to Mother Teresa Olaf, V (1903- ), the king of Norway, present at the award ceremony Summary of Event Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now Yugoslavia), on August 27, 1910, to Albanian parents. She was one of three children, one boy and two girls. At the age of eighteen, she volunteered for Roman Catholic missionary work and went to Ireland, where she joined the Loreto nuns.

From there, she was sent to India to work first as a geography teacher and then as principal at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. In 1948, she became an Indian citizen and received permission to work in the Calcutta slums. To prepare herself for this work, Mother Teresa undertook intensive nursing training for three months with the American Medical Missionary Sisters. She opened her first slum school on December 21, 1948, in Moto Jihl ("Pearl Lake"), named, ironically, for a discolored black sump water pond at its center. Most of the children in Moti Jihl were naked, which emphasized their protruding stomachs, resulting from undernutrition, and their pathetically thin rib cages. Teresa's was an "open-air" school which she started with no slates, chalk, or blackboard. Within a few short weeks, more than forty children were coming every day. On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa's New Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was approved as a Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese.

Her Home for Dying Destitutes, Nirmal Hriday ("Place of the Immaculate Heart"), was founded in 1952. A naked beggar boy of thirteen had been rejected by a local hospital for treatment because of lack of funds. The matchstick body of the boy was returned to the streets, and he soon died alone in the gutter. Shortly afterward, Mother Teresa found a woman dying near a garbage dump with her body half eaten by rats and ants. Teresa carried the woman to a hospital and refused to leave until they admitted her. That very same day, she went to the municipal government and offered to take care of the starving and those dying in the streets in return for the gift of a "house" to care for them. Nirmal Hriday was born from the love and care of one woman who refused to allow any "child of God" to die like an animal in the gutter.

In 1955, Mother Teresa founded Nirmala Shishu Bhavan ("the Children's Home of the Immaculate"), a home for destitute children, including orphans, the sick, the crippled, the mentally handicapped, children of mothers who had died in Nirmal Hriday, babies born of unwed mothers, and unwanted babies found in dustbins or drains. Most of the children suffered from undernutrition and tuberculosis. Usha, a baby girl, was just one of the reasons for Shishu Bhavan. When Mother Teresa picked her mother, an emaciated, starving, feverish young girl, off the street, Usha was one continuous sore. Usha's mother soon died, leaving Usha an orphan while the sisters nursed her to health. By 1958, there were ninety children at Shishu Bhavan. Shadona Mukherjee had also been found on the street with her mother and brother. Her mother died when she was seven, and she was in constant physical need and psychological bereavement. She finally learned to smile again in the care of the sisters.

Mary Ann, a throwaway child, literally had been discarded on the trolley tracks at one of Calcutta's busiest street crossings. She could neither walk nor talk, and she suffered from rickets as a result of long starvation. Rashid Sekandar, a Muslim boy of ten, was nursed back to health from the pain of tuberculosis of the bone. Shishu Bhavan also provided food of rice and bulgur wheat to the most destitute of families, and a haven for many well children. By 1955, the number of people receiving food there had risen from four thousand to seven thousand, mostly near-starving women with babies at their breasts. Five-year old Biren and his two-year-old brother Kanak were born on the street and left orphaned in the care of the sisters. Mother Teresa also obtained funds for Douglas, eight years of age, to arrange an operation to close his severely cleft palate and mitigate his harelip. From Shishu Bhavan, free basic medical treatment and medicines were also given to thousands of sick adults every month. The sisters distributed an array of medicines to numerous leprosy centers, giving free treatment to more than thirteen thousand leprosy victims.

In 1959, a leprosy dispensary at Titagarh was opened. At the time, there were 30,000 known lepers in India, and Titagarh was already treating 1,136 of them. Mother Teresa and her sisters opened Shanti Nagar ("The Place of Peace"), a small town for lepers in 1969. The thirty-four-acre plot of land provided real homes and treatment for leper families and lone victims of leprosy. The order was recognized by the Vatican as a Pontifical Congregation in 1965, thus opening the way for the Missionary Sisters' international work with the poor and destitute. From 1965 through 1970, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to expand, opening centers for the blind, aged, crippled, abandoned, dying, and leprous in nine foundations in three continents. These developments were in addition to thirteen new houses in towns and cities all over India during the same period, and excludes the sixty centers, including schools and leper centers, in Calcutta.

In 1970, a cyclone drowned more than 300,000 people in Bangladesh. West Pakistani troops killed three million more later that year; ten million men, women, and children fled to India to escape the violence. Mother Teresa set up a home in Dacca and several others in Bangladesh to care for these women and girls. In one village, out of twenty-three male heads of families, seventeen were shot in a single day. The women were begging on the streets in order to feed their families. The sisters helped the women start a puffed rice-making business in the "widow's village" so that their fatherless children would not starve to death. The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Mother Teresa in 1979 climaxed numerous honors and awards received from her adopted country India, from the church, and from the world of academia. These included the "Padmashree" and Magsaysay Awards (1962), the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding (1969), the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, the Good Samaritan Award, and the John F.

Kennedy International Award (1971), The Templeton Award for Progress in Religion and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization's "Ceres" Medal (1973), and the Balzan Prize (1978). Mother Teresa arrived in Oslo, Norway, in December, 1979, to receive the prize. An example of her commitment to the rights of the poor was her request that the traditional Nobel banquet, held at the Hotel Continental, be cancelled. The $6,000 saved was added to the $190,000 Nobel prize money and other small sums of money collected during her travels throughout Norway, to be used to serve the poorest of the poor around the world. Mother Teresa was deeply moved when $175 was donated by children, out of their own pocket money, from a small Lutheran church in the Norwegian countryside. Professor John Sanness, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, delivered the award speech recalling the work of former Nobel laureates.

The gold medal of the Peace Prize bears the inscription, "Pro Pace et Fraternitate Gentium," and means "for peace, friendship, and love between men and women of all nations." Mother Teresa accepted the prize in the name of the poor. "The prize," she said, "is the recognition of the poor World. Jesus said, 'I am hungry, I am naked, I am homeless.' By serving the poor, I am serving him." In her acceptance speech, she spoke of God's love for all people, the joy of serving Jesus in the poor, the dignity of all people, including the unborn, and the importance of the family, of love and compassion, and of giving until it hurts. She used concrete examples from her life experience throughout her speech. This event marked the first time in history that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to a nun. Impact of Event The impact of Mother Teresa's work throughout the world is not easily quantified, and statistical quantification certainly runs the risk of missing the true meaning and impact of her work for the dignity and rights of people around the world. Mother Teresa started her work alone and was soon joined by four nuns.

A report for the Missionary Sisters of Charity in 1979 revealed that they had operated 495 mobile clinics serving 4,105,604 patients; 103 leprosy centers serving 258,445 patients; eight leprosy rehabilitation centers serving 1,942; sixty-three homes for dying and sick destitutes serving 7,632; forty-nine homes for abandoned children serving 2,770; 107 slum schools serving 15,815 children; 120 feeding centers serving 165,338; sixty-four malnutrition centers serving 10,988; five night shelters serving 774; six mother and child care centers serving 4,018; and seven homes for alcoholics and drug addicts serving 505. The impact of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity on human rights and dignity may also be gauged by the order's expansion through the years.

In 1963, the Order of the Missionary Brothers of Charity was founded in Calcutta, and by 1979 it had more than thirty houses in ten countries. The International Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, an association of lay, and not primarily Christian, people, were formally affiliated with the Missionary Sisters of Charity in 1969, and had branches in twenty-nine countries. By the early 1980's, the Missionaries of Charity had 250 sisters in Calcutta alone and 1,800 more located in congregations elsewhere in India and in almost thirty countries around the world. They worked in some 250 houses. The order continued to increase its membership by twenty-five a year in the 1980's. Mother Teresa admitted that her work hardly changed the immensity of human suffering. It is a great paradox that her work among the illiterate, drug addicts, abandoned children, and the poorest of the poor may have had a greater and more widespread impact on the educated and nonpoor.

Her Nobel Peace Prize ignited a series of books, articles, and newspaper entries on her work and mission, read not by the poor and dying but by the well-off. Her work dramatized respect for the dignity of the human person upon which all human rights are grounded. She tended to avoid politics and focus directly on concrete human lives and dignity. Mother Teresa has written little, and both her speech and her writing tend to be simple, clear, and direct. Her views opposing abortion and promoting natural family planning, themes brought out in her Nobel Prize acceptance speech, have been criticized as naïve by some. Her rationale for serving the poor was not so much based on a philosophical or political theory of human rights as it was on the inspiration she received from the poor themselves. Mother Teresa realized that her clinics could not substitute for widespread concern for basic human rights which would lead to structural change and the elimination of poverty, malnutrition, and sickness around the globe. Mother Teresa's award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 affirmed that her love for the poorest of the poor has accomplished much indeed. FURTHER READINGS Doig, Desmond. Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work. Harper & Row, 1976.

Focuses more on the people who assisted with the work of Mother Teresa than on Mother Teresa herself. The foreword is by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Includes a chronological table up to August, 1975, and outstanding black-and-white and color photographs. Somewhat dated Egan, Eileen. Such a Vision of the Street. Doubleday, 1985. The author of this work has been a Co-Worker of Mother Teresa since 1955 and has known her personally for years. This is the definitive, in-depth account of Mother Teresa's life and the spirit behind her work. Black-and-white photographs. Appendices include dates and institutions of the Missionary Sisters and Brothers of Charity Worldwide and U.S.A., and of the International Association of Co-Workers of Mother Teresa. Index Le Joly, Edward. Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A Biography. Harper & Row, 1983. The only English biography of Mother Teresa written by her spiritual director of more than twenty-five years. Based on private conversations, tapes of Mother Teresa's talks, and interviews with religious and lay people associated with her work. Filled with interesting personal anecdotes. Center photographs. No index Muggeridge, Malcolm.

Something Beautiful for God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Harper & Row, 1971. Not a biography in the ordinary sense, this book arises out of the film on the same theme and with the same title. Includes extended quotations from Mother Teresa on a variety of topics, an interview, and an appendix which includes the constitution of the International Association of Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and a chronological table of Mother Teresa's life up to 1971 Porter, David. Mother Teresa: The Early Years. William B. Eerdmans, 1986. This book is based heavily on the first complete biography of Mother Teresa published in the Albanian language, written by Lush Gjergji, an Albanian priest and journalist, who is a cousin of Mother Teresa. Porter has expanded much of the original work, adding background material and his own comments. Includes black-and-white photographs and an epilogue Serrou, Robert. Teresa of Calcutta. McGraw-Hill, 1980. A pictorial biography with a foreword by Malcolm Muggeridge.

Includes an exclusive interview with Mother Teresa's only surviving brother, Lazar Bojaxhiu, and an informative chapter, "Awards for Teresa and Her Work," including her Nobel Prize Address Spink, Kathryn. The Miracle of Love: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Her Missionaries of Charity, and Her Co-Workers. Harper & Row, 1982. Large type and wide margins for easy reading. Includes an appendix with the Nobel Peace Prize speech by Professor John Sanness, Mother Teresa's Nobel Lecture, her Templeton Award speech, and the text of "The Vocation of the Missionaries of Charity." Includes helpful data concerning the scope and volume of Mother Teresa's work for the year 1979. No index Mother Teresa. Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations, Prayers. Ed. Kathryn Spink. Harper & Row, 1983. An inspiring collection of writings by Mother Teresa and gospel texts. Organized around scriptural themes. Includes addresses of the Missionaries of Charity in Australia, England, West Bengal, and the United States Mother Teresa. My Life for the Poor. Ed. José Luis González-Balado, Ed. Janet N. Playfoot.

Harper & Row, 1985. While this work is not an autobiography in the strict sense, it is the nearest thing to an expression of Mother Teresa's story in her own spoken words. The book's content, set forth in nine brief chapters, is drawn from tape-recorded speeches, letters to friends and coworkers, and various anecdotes and episodes in the life of Mother Teresa Gale Document Number: EJ2105240870 Mother Teresa, Founder of Missionaries of Charity, Nobel Prize Winner Buffer Shares 0 Mother Teresa was CEO of the Missionaries of Charity , a large and growing organization in India. She dedicated most of her life to working with the poorest of the poor, and was practical in that she catered to both their spiritual and physical needs. “In 1982, during the siege of Beirut, Lebanon, [Mother Teresa] negotiated a cease-fire between Israeli and Palestinian forces.

This cease-fire allowed her to evacuate mentally handicapped patients from a hospital on the front lines of the battle.” Mother Teresa (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Name: Mother Teresa ( Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu ) Birth Date: August 1910 – September 1997 Job Functions: Nun Fields: Charity Known For: Caring for the poorest of the poor and homeless in Calcutta To get the most from The Invisible Mentor Profile of Mother Teresa, while you are reading it, answer the following questions: Are their similarities between Mother Teresa and yourself? What are your five takeaways from the profile? When you think of the person profiled, what thoughts immediately come to mind? In what ways can you use the information in your work and life? Look at the process you use to get your job done, think of ways to improve the process and make it more efficient. Is there a way to eliminate a step or combine steps? Also, is there a way to do your work in a more cost-efficient manner? After reading the profile, what is one concrete action you can take?

Biography Mother Teresa was born and named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Macedonia under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (See Gertrude Bell profile in wisdom). At 12 years old she knew that she wanted to work for the poor, and during her teenage years she gained clarity and focus on what she wanted to do. At age 18, Mother Teresa left home and joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of Irish nuns who ran schools in India. She took the name Teresa as a tribute to the French saint Thèrése de Lisieux and Teresa of Avila (See Teresa of Avila profile). Mother Teresa received training in Dublin, Ireland and Darjeeling, India – she took her first religious vows in 1928 and her final vows in 1937. One of her first assignment, which lasted 17 years, was to teach – catechism, history and geography – at St Mary’s High School (1930 – 1944) and subsequently served as principal at a school (1944 – 1948) for privileged Bengali girls in Calcutta.

Mother Teresa left the convent life in 1946, because while riding on a train, she received a calling from God to work directly with the poor, and received permission from the Vatican to leave the Sisters of Loretto. To embark on her journey to directly serve the poor, Mother Teresa received intensive medical training with the American Medical Missionary Sisters in Patna, India. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, a new order of nuns, and in 1950 she received official status as a religious community within the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The goal of the Missionaries of Charity was to provide care for the hungry, naked, crippled, blind and those with leprosy. Mother Teresa learned Bengali and Hindi to be able to better serve the poor and received India citizenship in 1948. She gathered children from the slums who didn’t attend school and taught them, and ended up attracting much needed financial support and volunteers. Mother Teresa dedicated her life to serve the poorest of the poor. Her religious community ministered to the dying so they would be filled with dignity and love as they transitioned from this world.

Over the years Mother Teresa was criticized for the small scope of her work, but even though some may have thought that what she was doing was only a drop in the bucket, she knew that it mattered to those who received the help. In 1957, Missionaries of Charity started to work with people with leprosy and they also opened a home for orphans and abandoned children. And in 1959 they expanded their work outside of Calcutta, and soon had a presence in 22 Indian cities. Pope Paul VI granted the Missionaries of Charity a pontifical order, which paved the way for their expansion beyond India. In 1969, Mother Teresa allowed a group called the International Association of Co-Workers of Mother Teresa to affiliate itself with Missionaries of Charity, to assist with their work. In the 1970s they expanded into other countries, Jordan (Amman), England (London), United States (Harlem, and New York City). Over the years, The Missionaries of Charity received a lot of awards and media attention for their work, and Mother Teresa was very skilled at using it to benefit the work they did.

For instance, in 1968, Mother Teresa was interviewed by Malcolm Muggeridge for a documentary for the British Broadcasting Corporation called Something Beautiful for God and as a result, in 1971, he published a book of the same name. In 1971, she was awarded the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for her service to the poor, and in 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Mother Teresa received a grant from Joseph Kennedy Jr. Foundation. All these accolades made Mother Teresa well-recognized, which brought her publicity and financial support – she always deflected the spotlight from herself and on to the works of the group. Mother Teresa was voted America’s Most Admired Woman in 1980, 1986, 1995 and 1996. By 1979, the Missionaries of Charity group had over 200 operations in 25 countries. The expansions continued into Russia, they opened a home for AIDS patients in San Francisco, California in 1991.

And at the time of her death in 1997, Mother Teresa had created over 600 homes in 130 countries, offering food centres, orphanages, homes for AIDS patients, people with leprosy, shelters for battered women, dug addicts, the poor and unemployed. Her religious order had 6,000 nuns and 100,000 lay volunteers. An important reason for the Missionaries of Charity’s accelerated growth, funding and publicity was because of Mother Teresa who was viewed as pleasant and direct, and respected for her values. She was apolitical and concerned only with finding solutions; Mother Teresa never criticized governments for their policies that contributed to poverty. She was never angry or indignant but instead focused on how they could alleviate the problem. One thing Mother Teresa spoke out about was capital punishment and war. Mother Teresa was criticized for her opposition to abortion and contraception, especially in an overpopulated country as India. Like the rest of us, Mother Teresa had her shortcomings.

According to The Times, Great Lives: A Century of Obituaries, “Mother Teresa had her human failings: she was spokesman for her community so that, until her retirement, one rarely heard the views expressed of any of her nuns; she was adamant in what she believed and dictatorial within her houses, which she visited regularly all over the world.” After her death, Mother Teresa was beatified by the Catholic Church, the first step in the canonization process to becoming recognized as a saint. She is now formally recognized as Blessed Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa’s Steps to Success Knew what she wanted to do and took the necessary action. Made changes as was necessary. Was pleasant, direct, humble, and intelligent. Apolitical and didn’t play the blame game and instead focused on solutions. Skilled at using media to further the work of the Missionaries of Charity. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Works Referenced/Cited UXL Encyclopedia of World Biograph The Times, Great Lives: A Century of Obituaries World Religions Reference Library Mother Teresa - On This Day On This Day Full Name: Mother Teresa [Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu] Nationality: Albanian born Indian Profession: Catholic Missionary Why Famous: Founder of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa began working in the slums of Calcutta in India in 1948. She went on to establish orphanages, hospitals and hospices dedicated to the sick and the poor. Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Although sometimes controversial she was posthumously beatified by the Catholic Church in 2003. Cause of Death: Cardiac arrest Biography: Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was a Catholic missionary who gained international recognition for her humanitarian work. She was Algerian by birth but went to India as a nun and missionary, where she received "the call within the call" an “order” to help the poor, sick and dying. In the slums of Calcutta she started schools, hospices and orphanages, projects that spread worldwide with her fame and reputation.

By her the time of her death she was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries. Despite some criticism concerning the quality of care in her hospices and the spending of donated money, she was widely loved and in 1979 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A miraculous healing of a tumor was attributed to her, allowing Pope John Paul II to beatify her - bestowing the title ‘blessed’, and bringing her only one step away from becoming a saint. (OnThisDay.com) Historical Events in the Life of Mother Teresa 1929-01-06 Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin a her work amongst India's poorest and diseased people.

1950-10-26 Mother Teresa founds Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India 1979-10-17 Mother Teresa of Calcutta awarded Nobel Peace Prize 1986-02-03 The Pope and Mother Teresa meet in Calcutta 1993-08-20 Mother Teresa hospitalized with malaria 1997-09-13 Mother Teresa's State Funeral held in India Mother Teresa | Canonization, Awards, Facts, & Feast Day | Britannica.com Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo Mother Teresa, in full St. Teresa of Calcutta, also called St.

Mother Teresa, original name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (baptized August 27, 1910, Skopje , Macedonia, Ottoman Empire [now in Republic of Macedonia]—died September 5, 1997, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India; canonized September 4, 2016; feast day September 5), founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity , a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India . She was the recipient of numerous honours, including the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace. St. Teresa of Calcutta, also known as Mother Teresa, in 1993. She was canonized as a saint in 2016. Chris Bacon/AP The daughter of an ethnic Albanian grocer, she went to Ireland in 1928 to join the Sisters of Loretto at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and sailed only six weeks later to India as a teacher. She taught for 17 years at the order’s school in Calcutta ( Kolkata ).

In 1946 Sister Teresa experienced her “call within a call,” which she considered divine inspiration to devote herself to caring for the sick and poor. She then moved into the slums she had observed while teaching. Municipal authorities, upon her petition, gave her a pilgrim hostel, near the sacred temple of Kali, where she founded her order in 1948. Sympathetic companions soon flocked to her aid. Dispensaries and outdoor schools were organized. Mother Teresa adopted Indian citizenship, and her Indian nuns all donned the sari as their habit. In 1950 her order received canonical sanction from Pope Pius XII , and in 1965 it became a pontifical congregation (subject only to the pope). In 1952 she established Nirmal Hriday (“Place for the Pure of Heart”), a hospice where the terminally ill could die with dignity. Her order also opened numerous centres serving the blind, the aged, and the disabled. Under Mother Teresa’s guidance, the Missionaries of Charity built a leper colony, called Shanti Nagar (“Town of Peace”), near Asansol, India.

In 1962 the Indian government awarded Mother Teresa the Padma Shri, one of its highest civilian honours, for her services to the people of India. Pope Paul VI on his trip to India in 1964 gave her his ceremonial limousine, which she immediately raffled to help finance her leper colony. She was summoned to Rome in 1968 to found a home there, staffed primarily with Indian nuns. In recognition of her apostolate, she was honoured on January 6, 1971, by Pope Paul, who awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work, and the following year the Indian government conferred on her the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour. Mother Teresa at the Nobel Prize ceremony, 1979. Copyright Laurent Maous/Gamma Liaison Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent In her later years Mother Teresa spoke out against divorce , contraception , and abortion . She also suffered ill health and had a heart attack in 1989.

In 1990 she resigned as head of the order but was returned to office by a nearly unanimous vote—the lone dissenting voice was her own. A worsening heart condition forced her retirement, and the order chose the Indian-born Sister Nirmala as her successor in 1997. At the time of Mother Teresa’s death, her order included hundreds of centres in more than 90 countries with some 4,000 nuns and hundreds of thousands of lay workers. Within two years of her death, the process to declare her a saint was begun, and Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to expedite the process of canonization . She was beatified on October 19, 2003, reaching the ranks of the blessed in what was then the shortest time in the history of the church. She was canonized by Pope Francis I on September 4, 2016. Mother Teresa - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (1910-97).

One of the most highly respected women in the world, Saint Mother Teresa was internationally known for her charitable work among the victims of poverty and neglect-particularly in the slums of Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. She is also called Saint Teresa of Calcutta. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of her humanitarian efforts. She also received the Jewel of India, India’s highest civilian medal, as well as honorary degrees from academic institutions worldwide. The Roman Catholic Church declared her a saint in 2016. Article Contributors Mother Teresa - Facts Mother Teresa The Nobel Peace Prize 1979 Mother Teresa Born: 26 August 1910, Uskup (now Skopje), Ottoman Empire (now Republic of Macedonia) Died: 5 September 1997, Calcutta, India Residence at the time of the award: India Role: Leader of Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta Field: humanitarian work Prize share: 1/1 Saint in the Gutter - and Saint in Heaven? At the age of twelve, the Catholic Albanian girl Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu heard a call. God demanded that she devote her life to Him.

She entered a nunnery, received an education, and was sent to Calcutta in India to be a teacher. Her new name was Teresa. In India she received a second call from God: to help the poor while living among them. She founded a new sisterhood, Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa and her helpers built homes for orphans, nursing homes for lepers and hospices for the terminally ill in Calcutta. Mother Teresa's organization also engaged in aid work in other parts of the world. The modest nun became known all over the world, and money poured in. But she was also criticized. It was alleged that dying people in the hospices were refused pain relief, whereas Mother Teresa herself accepted hospital treatment. She also held a conservative view on abortion. She was regarded as a spokesperson for the Vatican. In 2003, the Pope took the first step towards her canonization. Copyright © The Norwegian Nobel Institute Share this: MOTHER Teresa MOTHER Teresa MOTHER Teresa (1910 - 1997) Albanian-born founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity--a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India.

She was the recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace. The daughter of an Albanian grocer, she went to Ireland in 1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sailing, only six weeks later, to India as a teacher. She subsequently requested permission to work with the poor of Calcutta. After studying nursing, Mother Teresa moved into the slums. Municipal authorities, upon her petition, gave her the pilgrim hostel near the sacred Kali's temple where she founded her order in 1948. Sympathetic companions soon flocked to her aid. Dispensaries and outdoor schools were organized. Mother Teresa adopted Indian citizenship, and her Indian nuns all donned the sari as their habit. In 1950 her order received canonical sanction from Pope Pius XII, and in 1965 it became a pontifical congregation (subject only to the pope). The order opened numerous centres serving the blind, the aged, lepers, cripples, and the dying. Under Mother Teresa's guidance, the Missionaries of Charity built, near Asansol, India, a leper colony called Shanti Nagar (Town of Peace).

She continued to head the order, despite years of health problems, until her retirement in March 1997. In 1963 the Indian government awarded Mother Teresa the Padmashri ("Lord of the Lotus") for her services to the people of India. In 1964, on his trip to India, Pope Paul VI gave her his ceremonial limousine, which she immediately raffled to help finance her leper colony. In 1968 she was summoned to Rome to found a home there, staffed primarily with Indian nuns. In recognition of her apostolate, she was honoured on Jan. 6, 1971, by Pope Paul, who awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. Her missionary activity was recognized with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. In the late 1970s the Missionaries of Charity numbered more than 1,000 nuns who operated 60 centres in Calcutta and more than 200 worldwide centres, including foundations in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Jordan, Venezuela, Great Britain, and Australia. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Mother Theresa's life and ministry are chronicled in Malcolm Muggeridge, Something Beautiful for God (1971, reissued 1986), based on the author's television interview and BBC film; Desmond Doig, Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work (1976); and Eileen Egan, Such a Vision of the Street (1985). Main Page | About Us | All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Timeline of Nobel Prize Winners is not affiliated with The Nobel Foundation. External sites are not endorsed or supported by Copyright © 2003 All Rights Reserved.

Question: Which Missionaries of Charity founder was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979?
Answer: MOTHER TERESA